This wearable sculpture reinterprets the thimble — a symbol of protection and domestic labour — as a structure of control. Through material contrast and altered form, the object disrupts its original function and exposes the tension between care and restriction.
In dialogue with Mona Hatoum, the work transforms the familiar into something unstable, revealing how protection can shape and limit behaviour.
As part of Post-Colonial Gold, the sculpture contributes to a network of wearable objects that redefine value, shifting attention from material wealth to human qualities such as empathy, care and intuition. read more...
The Object
This wearable sculpture is based on the form of a thimble.
The object retains its recognisable structure: a protective cap worn on the finger. At the same time, it is altered. The proportions are shifted, the surface is irregular, and the form appears heavier than expected.
The exterior is dark and worn, marked by use or transformation. A band of gold interrupts this surface, separating the body from the tip. The top is enclosed, perforated, and decorated.
The object is both functional and obstructive.
It suggests protection, but also restriction.
Material
The materials operate in contrast.
The dark surface absorbs light and shows traces of handling, pressure and time. It is not polished or resolved.
The gold band introduces a different value system. It does not function as decoration in a traditional sense, but marks a division within the object.
The decorated tip refers to ornament and craft, yet its perforated surface suggests resistance rather than refinement.
Material does not unify the object.
It creates tension.
Core Idea
This object examines protection as a controlled condition.
A thimble is designed to shield the body while enabling work. It allows the hand to continue functioning under pressure.
In this form, that logic becomes ambiguous.
Protection is no longer neutral. It becomes visible, weighted, and potentially limiting. The object raises the question whether protection enables action, or regulates it.
Meaning
The sculpture positions itself between care and control.
It refers to domestic labour and repetitive gestures traditionally associated with the hand. At the same time, it introduces elements that resist ease: weight, closure, and material contrast.
The body is implied but absent.
What remains is an object that suggests use, while withholding full access to it
In Dialogue with Mona Hatoum
Mona Hatoum frequently transforms domestic objects into structures that feel unstable or threatening.
Her work shifts the meaning of the familiar. Objects associated with safety, care or routine become sites of tension.
This sculpture operates within the same strategy.
The thimble is immediately recognisable as a tool of protection and domestic labour. However, its altered form and material composition disrupt that function. The object no longer simply protects the finger; it imposes itself onto it.
Like Hatoum’s work, it does not represent danger directly.
It introduces it through subtle displacement.
Resonance with the Present
This object directly relates to current discussions around control, safety and the body.
In contemporary society, protection has become a central concept — in technology, healthcare, data, and social structures. Systems are designed to safeguard, monitor and optimise. At the same time, these systems increasingly define behaviour and limit autonomy.
The thimble reflects this dual condition.
It is a tool of protection, but also a device that regulates movement. It enables action, while shaping how that action is performed. The user adapts to the object.
This dynamic is visible in multiple contexts:
- digital environments where safety is tied to surveillance
- healthcare systems where the body is monitored and managed
- social norms where protection can become restriction
The object does not illustrate these systems directly.
It operates on the same principle.
Protection is not neutral.
It structures behaviour.
By isolating and transforming a familiar object, the sculpture makes this mechanism visible on an intimate scale — at the level of the hand.
What appears small and domestic reflects a broader condition.
Control is no longer imposed from the outside.
It is embedded in the tools we use and the systems we depend on.
Within Post-Colonial Gold
Post-Colonial Gold is a system of wearable sculptures that redefines value in relation to colonial history.
For centuries, value was determined through systems of extraction, hierarchy and control — often reinforced by institutions such as religion and the church. Within these structures, softer human qualities — such as empathy, care and intuition — often associated with women, were pushed into subordinate roles.
This project repositions those values.
By creating a network of female artists who powerfully embody these qualities, each wearable sculpture becomes part of a larger whole. The objects do not stand alone; they form a dialogue.
Each work functions as a statement.
Each wearable sculpture embodies a human condition.
This work addresses control.
Not as an external force, but as something embedded within structures that appear protective, necessary and self-evident.
